Apparatus for coating wire with viscous material



July 13, 1965 E. H. HARRIS 3,194,210

APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE WITH VISCOUS MATERIAL Filed Aug. 16, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR. EDWARD HHARms AT TCRNEYS E. H. HARRIS July 13, 1965 APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE WITH VISGOUS MATERIAL Filed Aug. 16. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Rillkm i .n I m m%% m N m July 13, 1965 E. H. HARRIS 3,194,210

APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE WITH VISGOUS MATERIAL Filed Aug. 16, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. DWARO H Hana/s AT Ton/w: Y5

y 1965 E. H. HARRIS 3,194,210

APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE WITH VISOOUS MATERIAL Filed Aug. 16'. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 4 W 2 PM 4 .4 I I 1 I00 INVEN TOR. Ea WAHO H HARRIS Z/MM WMPJMM' AT TOFPNEYS United States Patent Office 3,194,210 Patented July 13, 1965 3,194,210 APPARATUS FOR (IOATING WIRE WITH VKSQOUS MATERIAL Edward H. Harris, Minneapolis, Minn, assignor to Acrometal Products, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed Aug. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 131,831) Claims. (Cl. 118-104) My invention relates generally to the coating of filaments, such as wire and the like, and more specifically to improvement in apparatus for coating such filaments with resinous or similar insulating enamels.

Heretofore, in the coating of small diameter wire, such as copper wire, with liquid insulating material, dies have been utilized to coat the wire as well as to remove excess liquid material therefrom before the material is cured, to obtain a coating of desired uniform thickness. However, dies are subject to wear, necessitating replacement, and wires of different diameters require dies of correspondingly different sizes. Thus, considerable expense and care is involved with the use of dies.

An important object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus for coating Wire with liquid insulating material, which dispenses with the use of dies and which will accommodate wires of different diameters.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a wire coating apparatus which will provide for an insulating coating on the wire which is uniform in thickness both longitudinally and circumferentially of the wire. To this end, I provide an applicator roll and first and second wiping rolls, the applicator roll applying. liquid to the wire and said wiping rolls removing excess liquid therefrom, the first wiping roll engaging the side of the wire generally opposite the sides thereof engaged by the applicator roll, and the second wiping roll engaging the side of the wire diametrically opposite the side thereof engaged by the first wiping roll, the applicator and wiping rolls being rotated in directions whereby the portions thereof engaging the Wire travel in a reverse direction to that of wire travel.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus as set forth in which the thickness of the insulating coating may be accurately controlled.

Another object of my invention is the provision of apparatus which will coat a wire in the above-indicated manner at a higher rate of speed of movement of the wire than has been heretofore accomplished.

Another object of my invention is the provision of wire coating mechanism as set forth which imposes a minimum of drag on the who being coated and which is arranged to minimize breakage of wire being coated.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a wire coating apparatus in which at least one of the wiping rolls thereof is movable relative to the other rolls thereof in a direction whereby to adjust the path of movement of the wire between said rolls.

Another object of my invention is the provision of wire coating apparatus which is relatively simple and inexpensive to produce and maintain, which is highly eficient in operation, and which is rugged in construction and durable in use.

The above, and still further highly important objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the invention, and in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in top plan of a wire coating apparatus produced in accordance with my invention, some parts being broken away and some parts being shown in section;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in front elevation;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse section taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 1, some parts being broken away;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged transverse section taken substantially on the line 55 of FIG. 2, some parts being broken away;-

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail, partly in plan and partly in section, taken substantially on the line 6-6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary detail of a portion of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail in section, taken substantially on the line 88 of FIG. 4.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, a frame structure is shown as comprising a base member 1, a pair of laterally spaced upright end frame members 2 and 3, a plate-like top frame member 4, and a vertically disposed motor mounting plate 5 extending laterally outwardly from the end frame member 2, between the base member 1 and top frame member 4. The various base and frame members are welded or otherwise rigidly secured together to provide a rigid frame structure. A pair of vertically spaced upper and lower plate-like guide members 6 and '7 are rigidly secured in laterally inwardly spaced relation to the end frame member 2, and are spaced therefrom by spacer blocks or the like 8. A second pair of plate-like guide members 9 and 10, like the guide members 6 and 7, are rigidly secured in laterally inwardly spaced parallel relation to the end frame member 3 and spaced therefrom by spacer blocks or the like 11. The guide members 6, 7, 9 and 10 extend horizontally from the front to the rear of the frame structure, and provide guideways for a pair of plate-like slides 12 and 13, the slide 12 being mounted and guided between the guide members 6 and 7, and the slide 13 being mounted and guided between the guide members 9 and 10, for horizontal forward and rearward movements relative thereto. The upper guide members 6 and 9 are braced by a tie rod or the like 14 that extends horizontally between the front end portions of the guide members 6 and 9, the opposite ends of the tie rod 14 being rigidly secured to said guide members 6 and 9. A pair of horizontally extending gear racks 15 are rigidly mounted one each on a different one of the slides 12 and 13, each of the gear racks 15 having meshing engagement with an adjacent one of a pair of pinions 16 rigidly mounted on opposite end portions of a rockshaft 17 that is journalled in the front end portions of the upper guide members 6 and 9. Rocking movements are imparted to the shaft 17 to move the slides 12 and 13 forwardly or rearwardly, by means of an operating handle or the like 18 rigidly secured to the end of the shaft 17 laterally outwardly of the upper guide member 6. A stop screw 1S3, mounted in a bracket 29, depending from the upper guide member 6, limits rearward movement of the slides 12 and Band parts carried thereby. 1

An elongated cylindrical, generally horizontally disposed applicator roll 21 is provided at its opposite ends with axial shaft or trunnion portions 22 that are journalled in rolling friction bearings 23 mounted in the lower guide members 7 and 10. The guide members 7 and 10 are split, as indicated at 24, and are provided with clamping screws or the like 25 for securing the bearings 23 in their respective guide members 7 and 10. The applicator roll 21 is formed to provide a plurality of axially spaced raw dially outwardly opening circumferential grooves or channels 26 for generally tangential receptionof lengths of wire to be coated, and for enamel or like liquid insulating material. In the drawings, the wire is indicated by th reference character A, the liquid coating being indicated at B.

The enamel or coating material B is supplied to the circumferential grooves or channels 26 of the applicator roll 21 under pressure from a suitable source, not shown, through conduit means including a distributor pipe 27, a plurality of branch pipes 28 each provided with a control valve 29, and a manifold 30, the branch pipes 28 extending from the distributor pipe 27 to the manifold 30 at longitudinally spaced points thereon. As shown, the manifold 3% is disposed in closely rearwardly spaced parallel relation to the applicator roll 21, and defines a chamber 31 that is adapted .to be filled with the enamel B from the branch pipes 28. The manifold 3% is generally cross sectionally rectangular, having a front wall 32 that is perforated to provide a plurality of discharge orifices 33 each directed toward a different one of the grooves or channels 26 in the applicator roll 21, see FIGS. 3, 6 and 7. Preferably, the orifices 33 are of a diameter substantially equal to the width of their respective grooves, whereby to confine the enamel B delivered from the manifold 3b to their respective grooves 26. With further reference to FIGS. 3 and 6, it will be seen that the front wall 32 of the manifold 39 is formed to provide a lip or doctor blade 34 that is adapted to engage the outer cylindrical surface of the applicator roll 21 to remove liquid from said cylindrical surface adjacent the opposite sides of the grooves 26, for a purpose which will hereinafter be described.

Means for mounting the manifold 3th for adjustment toward and away from the applicator roll 21, comprises a pair of guide blocks or the like 35, one each bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to a different one of the lower guide members 7 and 10. The guide blocks 35 are provided with guideways 36 which receive adjacent reduced end portions 37 of the manifold 36, the guide blocks 35 being provided with stop flanges or the like 38 that are engaged by stop screws 39 screw threaded in the end portions 37 of the manifold 30, see particularly FIG. 6. At their rear ends, the guide blocks 35 are provided with laterally inwardly projecting stop bars 40 that have locking screws 41 screw threaded therein, the locking screws 41 being adapted to engage the adjacent end portions 37 of the manifold 3b to positively hold the manifold 34 against rearward movement relative to the applicator roll 21. The stop bars 40 are removably secured to the rear ends of the guide blocks 35 by mounting screws or the like 42. Once the manifold 30 is properly positioned relative to the applicator roll 21, repositioning thereof is necessary only to compensate for wear between the cylindrical surface of the applicator roll 21 and the doctor blade portion 34- of the manifold 30. This is easily done by removing the stop bars 4% and manipulating the adjustment screws 39, after which the stop bars 46 are replaced and the'lock nuts 41 tightened to anchor the manifold 30- against rearward movement.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wires A, to be coated, move in an upward direction in a substantially straight path and generally tangentially of the applicator roll 21, the wires A being entrained over a suitable guide pulley or the like 43, shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3. In applying enamel to the wires A in accordance with the instant invention, the applicator roll 21 is driven in a counterclockwise direction with respect to FIG. 3, or in a direction wherein the wire engaging portion thereof travels reverse to the direction of travel of the wires A. Rotation is imparted to the applicator roll 21 by a conventional drive motor 44 mounted on the motor mounting plate 5, the motor 44 being equipped with conventional variable speed transmission gearing, not shown, but contained within a housing 45, having a drive shaft 46 extending outwardly therefrom. An endless link chain 47 is entrained over a sprocket 43 mounted fast on the drive shaft 46 and a second sprocket 4% mounted fast on the adjacent applicator roll shaft 22, see particularly FIGS. 2 and 4. Excess enamel, that is scraped from the cylindrical surfaces of the applicator roll 21 drops by gravity into a trough or drain 5% underlying the applicator roll 21 and manifold 30 at the trough 5d delivering the collected enamel to a collector conduit 51 which returns the enamel to the source of supply thereof. The trough 5th is supported at its opposite ends by brackets 52 bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the lower guide members 7 and It), the collector conduit 51 being anchored in place on the base member 1 by a clamping bracket or the like 53.

A first wiping roll 54, similar to the applicator roll '21 but having a smooth outer cylindrical surface, is provided at its opposite ends with axially outwardly projecting shafts or trunnions 55 that are mounted in rolling friction bearings 56 anchored in the slides 12 and 13, whereby the first wiping roll 54 is disposed in spaced parallel relation to the applicator roll 21. The wiping roll 54, being carried by the slides 12 and 13, is adapted to be moved toward and away from the path of travel of the wires A and to make wiping contact with the sides of the wires A substantially diametrically opposite the sides thereof engaged by the applicator roll 21.

The Wiping roll 54 is provided with a doctor blade 57 that is mounted on a shaft 53 disposed in forwardly spaced parallel relationship to the wiping roll 54, the opposite ends of the shaft 58 being mounted in rolling friction bearings 59 anchored in the slides 12 and 13. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the slides 12 and 13 are split between the bearings 56 and 5h, as indicated at 60, clamping screws 61 being utilized to anchor the bearings 56 and 59 in place. The free edge portion of the doctor blade 57 tangentially engages the first wiping roll 54, the opposite edge portion thereof being provided with longitudinally spaced laterally outwardly opening slots 62 which receive mounting screws 63 that extend through longitudinally spaced portions of a clamping bar 64 overlying the doctor blade 57, the screws 63 being screw threaded into the shaft 58. Loosening of the screws 63 permits the doctor blade 57 to be adjustably moved in opposite directions generally tangentially of the wiping roll 54 to vary the positioning of the free edge of the doctor blade 57 with respect to the point of tangential contact between the doctor blade 57 and the wiping roll 54'.

The shaft 58 is yieldingly urged in a direction of rotation thereof to bring the doctor blade 57 into engagement with the wiping roll 54, by a coil tension spring 65, one end of which is secured to a crank arm 66 keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to the end of the shaft 58 adjacent the slide 12, see particularly FIG. 4. The opposite end of the spring is attached to one end of an adjustment screw 67, by means of a conventional swivel connection 63, the screw 67 being screw threaded in a boss 6? welded or otherwise rigidly connected to the rear end of the slide 12, see FIG. 4. At its outer end, the screw 67 is provided with a knob 70 by means of which the screw 67 may be rotated to adjust the tension of the spring 55, whereby to vary the pressure of the free edge portion of the doctor blade 57 against the first wiping roll 54. An elongated drain trough 71 underlies the wiping roll 54 and doctor blade 57 to collect enamel which is wiped or scraped from the wiping roll 54, one end of the trough 71 forming a downspout 72 which delivers the collected enamel to the collector conduit 51. Opposite ends of the trough 71 are mounted on the slides 12 and 13 by mounting brackets 73, see FIGS. 2 and 3.

A second wiping roll '74, similar to the first wiping roll 54, is provided at its opposite ends with axially projecting trunnions or shafts 75 that are mounted in rolling friction bearings 76 which are anchored in the upper guide members 6 and The axis of the second wiping roll 74 is disposed in upwardly spaced parallel relation to the axis of the applicator roll 21, the axes of the rolls 21 and 74 being disposed in a common generally vertical plane indicated by the broken line X-X in FIG. 3. As further shown in FIG. 3, the wire A is tangentially engaged by the second wiping roll 74 at a portion diametrically opposed to the portion of the wire A engaged by the first wiping roll 54. Like the first wiping roll 54, the second wiping roll 74 is provided with a doctor blade 77 the plane of which is tangent to the wiping roll 74, the blade 77 being mounted on a shaft 78 by means of a clamping bar 7? and clamping screws 80 screw threaded into the shaft 7 8. The clamping screws 83 extend through transverse slots 31 in the doctor blade 77 whereby the doctor blade 77 is adjustable in a direction tangentially of the second wiping roll 74 in the same manner as the doctor blade 57. The shaft 78 is disposed in rearwardly spaced parallel relation to its cooperating second wiping roll 74, and is mounted in rolling friction bearings 82 that are anchored in the upper guide members 6 and 9. As shown, the upper guide members 6 and 9 are slotted as indicated at 83 and provided with clamping screws 84, whereby to securely hold the bearings 76 and 82 against displacement relative to their respective guide members 6 and 9. Pressure of the doctor blade 77 against the second wiping roll 74 is yieldingly applied by a coil tension spring 85 connected at one end to a crank as. The other end of the spring 85 is connected to the inner end of an adjustment screw 87, by means of a conventional swivel joint 88, the adjustment means of a conventional swivel joint 88, the adjustment screw 87 being screw threaded in a boss 89 extending upwardly from the upper one of the spacer blocks 11, see FIG. 5. The outer end of the adjustment screw 87 is provided with a control knob or the like 91 by means of which the screw 87 may be rotated to vary the yielding bias of the spring 85 against the crank arm 86, to adjust the pressure of the doctor blade 77 against the second wiping roll 74. Like the applicator roll 21 and first wiping roll 54, the second wiping roll 74 is provided with a drain trough 91 which underlies the wiping roll 74 and its cooperating doctor blade 77, and which is provided with a downspout 92 that directs the liquid enamel to the collector conduit 51 for return of the enamel to the source thereof. The opposite ends of the drain trough 91 are rigidly secured to the upper guide members 6 and 9 by mounting brackets 93 similar to the mounting brackets 52 and 73.

Preferably, .and as shown by arrows in FIG. 3, the wiping rolls 54 and 74 are rotated in directions wherein the wire engaging portions thereof move reversely of the direction of movement of the length of wire A passing therebetween. Means for imparting rotation :to the wiping rolls 54 and 74 comprises a motor 94 mounted above the motor 44 on the motor mounting plate 5, the motor 94 being provided with conventional variable speed transmission mechanism, not shown, but contained within a housing 95. An output shaft journalled in the gear housing 95, and driven by the motor 94, has mounted thereon a drive sprocket 97 over which is entrained an endless link chain 93. As shown in FIG. 4, the link chain runs over an idler sprocket 99 that is journalled on a stub shaft or bolt ltltl extending transversely outwardly from the adjacent upper guide member 6. Further, the link chain 8 is entrained over sprockets 1M and 1192 fixed on the shafts 55 and 75 respectively of their respective wiping r-ol-ls 54 and 74, and idler sprockets 183, N4, and 195. The idler sprocket 1% is journalled on a stub shaft or bolt 106 projecting laterally outwardly from the adjacent slide 12, the idler sprockets 1134 and 1% being suitably journalled on stub shafts or bolts 1tt7 and 1% respectively on a mounting block 1tl9 bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the adjacent upper guide member 6, see FIGS. 4 and 8. The arrangement of sprocket 1.531 with the idler sprockets 103-195 is such that the slides 12 and 13 and first wiping roll 54 mounted thereon may be of the wire.

. 6 moved forwardly and rearwardly in the guide members 6, 7, 9 and 1h, while maintaining proper driving tension of the endless link chain 98.

In use, the manifold 30 is caused to be filled with the enamel to be applied to lengths of wire, the Wire A is passed partially around the guide pulley 43 and upwardly between the applicator roll 21 and the first wiping roll 54, and between the first wiping poll 54 and the second wiping roll 74, as shown in FIG. 3. From thence, the wire A travels to a suitable drying medium, such as an oven or the like, not shown. To facilitate insertion of the wire A between the several rolls, the shaft 17 is rotated in a clockwise direction with respect to FIG. 3, by manipulation of the handle 18, to cause the first wiping roll 54 ot be moved bodily away from the common plane of the axes of the rolls 2.1 and 74, indicated at X-X. When the wire A is properly positioned, the shaft 17 is rotated counterclockwise until the first wiping roll 54 makes the desired tangential contact with the wire A or, until the rear end of the slide 12 engages the stop screw 19. With the roll 54 thus positioned, that portion of the wire A between the rolls 21 and 74 tangentially engages the, rolls 21., 54 and 74 but is disposed substantially in a straight line, the wire A being maintained within the selected groove 26 of the applicator roll by engagement with the first Wiping roll 54. As the wire A travels upwardly and tangentially within a given one of the grooves 26 in the applicator roll 21, it becomes submerged in the enamel or like insulating liquid fed into the groove from the manifold 30. By adjusting the speed of counterclockwise rotation of the applicator roll 21, or movement of the wire-engaging portion thereof in the reverse direction to that of wire movement, a sufficient quantity of liquid enamel or like material is presented to the wire A as it moves toward the first wiping roll 54 to insure a complete submergence of the wire and full coating thereof, at various speeds of wire travel. Likewise, it has been found that, by rotating the wiping rolls 54 and 74 in directions wherein the wire engaging portions thereof move reversely to the direct-ion of wire movement and at selected speeds relative to the speed of wire travel, control of the thickness of the enamel coating can be effected to a very fine degree. As the wire A moves past the wiping rolls 54 and 74, and toward the drying oven, not shown, the enamel remaining thereon flows into the areas wiped by the wiping rolls 54 and 74 to provide a concentric coat of insulation having a high degree of uniformity as to thickness throughout the length The doctor blade 34 of the manifold 34 removes all of the enamel from the outer surface of the applicator roll 21 except that which is contained in the grooves 26 thereof, and the doctor blades 57 and 77 remove a suificient amount of enamel from their respective wiping rolls 54 and 74 to leave the wire engaging surfaces of the rolls 54 and 74 in a damp or moist condi tion whereby to more effectively remove excess enamel from the wire A as it is engaged by the wiping rolls.

The thickness of enamel coating on the doctored portions of the wiping rolls 54 and 74, as these portions approach the wire A, is determined by the position of the free edges of the doctor blades 57 and 77 relative to the lines of tangential contact with their respective wiping rolls 54 and 74 and by the amount of tension applied to their respective springs 65 and 85.

With the use of the above described mechanism, I have been able to apply enamel to wires of various diameters and to apply the enamel in very thin coats having a high degree of concentricity for uniform drying. By passing the wire through the applicator mechanism several times and drying each coat after passage of the wire through the applicator, I have found that the resultant insulation is uniform in thickness, and capable of withstanding considerable flexing of the wire without damage to the insulation. Further, with the above applicator, l have been enabled to properly coat the wire at a much faster rate 7 than heretofore, thus effecting a considerable savings in time and expense.

While I have shown and described a commercial embodiment of my improved wire coating apparatus, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the scope and spirit of the invention, as defined in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for coating wire with liquid material, an applicator roll and first and second wiping rolls journalled on spaced parallel axes and so disposed relative to each other to have substantially tangential engagement with a wire to be coated and traveling in a substantially straight path transversely of said rolls and in a direction from said applicator roll toward said wiping rolls in succession, said applicator roll having circumferential grooving for generally tangential reception of said wire to be coated, means for introducing coating liquid to said grooving remote from the area of engagement thereof with said wire, said first and second Wiping rolls being displaced from each other and from said applicator roll in the direction of travel of said Wire, said wiping rolls being disposed at opposite sides of the path of travel of said wire whereby to tangentially engage diametrically opposite sides of the Wire, means for imparting rotation to said applicator roll and wiping rolls in a direction wherein the wire engaging portions of said rolls rotate in a direction opposite the direction of travel of the wire, a pair of doctor blades each operatively associated with a different one of said wiping rolls, the plane of each of said doctor blades being substantially tangent to its respective wiping roll, each of said doctor blades having an operative side adjacent one edge thereof engaging its respective wiping roll at the line of tangential contact between the plane of the blade and the cylindrical surface of its respective wiping rolls, pivot means mounting said doctor blades for swinging movements toward and away from tangential engagement with their respective wiping rolls, said doctor blades being mounted on said pivot means for adjustment of said edges thereof in th direction of the plane of said blades toward and away from said line of tangential contact.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in further combination with yielding means urging said doctor blades toward engagement with their respective wiping rolls, and means for varying the bias of said yielding means, said yielding means comprising coil tension springs operatively connected at one end to the doctor blade mounting means, said last-mentioned means comprising screw elements connected to the other ends of said springs.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said grooving comprises a plurality of axially spaced circumferential grooves for tangential reception of each thereof with a different one of a plurality of lengths of said wire, and in which said coating liquid introducing means comprises an elongated manifold disposed in closely spaced relation to said applicator roll, a wall of said manifold adjacent 8 said applicator roll having a plurality of delivery orifices each directed to a different one of said grooves, 21 wall portion of said manifold spaced from said orifices projecting toward said applicator roll and providing a doctor element for removal of liquid from said applicator roll adj acent opposite sides of said grooves.

4. In a device for uniformly coating strands of filamentary material with a fluid wherein such strands pass along a path in thedirection of their length and are engaged by a coating roll and a pair of spaced wiper rolls also spaced from the coating roll and said Wiper rolls operating on opposite sides of a plane extending in the direction of travel of the strands and tangent to the coating roll; the improvement wherein all of said rolls rotate in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the strands at the point of contact therewith and wherein the coating roll is provided with a plurality of spaced circumferential grooves one for each strand, a manifold extending longitudinally along the coating roll closely adjacent thereto opposite the point of engagement of said strands, said manifold having a conduit connected to a source of coating fluid supply, and a plurality of orifices, one for each groove in the coating roll, conducting coating fluid into said grooves, a doctor blade mounted on said manifold coacting with said coating roll to remove substantially all coating material from the peripheral surface of said coating roll between said grooves.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4- Wherein the manifold is provided with a chamber for coating fluid and wherein said conduit and said orifice communicate with said chamber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

v JOSEPH B. SPENCER, RICHARD D. NEVIUS,

Examiners. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE WITH LIQUID MATERIAL, AN APPLICATOR ROLL AND FIRST AND SECOND WIPING ROLLS JOURNALLED ON SPACED PARALLEL AXES AND SO DISPOSED RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER TO HVAE SUBSTANTAILLY TANGENTIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH A WIRE TO BE COATED AND TRAVELING IN A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT PATH TRANSVERSELY OF SAID ROLLS AND IN A DIRECTION FROM SAID APPLICATOR ROLL TOWARD SAID WIPING ROLLS IN SUCCESSION, SAID APPLICATOR ROLL HAVING CIRMUCFERENTIAL GROOVING FOR GENERALLY TANGENTIAL RECEPTION OF SAID WIRE TO BE COATED, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING COATING LIQUID TO SAID GROOVING REMOTE FROM THE ARE OF ENGAGEMENT THEREOF WITH SAID WIRE, SAID FIRST AND SECOND WIPING ROLLS BEING DISPLACED FROM EACH OTHER AND FROM SAID APPLICATOR ROLL IN THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF SAID WIRE, SAID WIPING ROLLS BEING DISPOSED AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE PATH OF TRAVEL OF SAID WIRE WHEREBY TO TANGENTIALLY ENGAGE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE SIEDS OF THE WIRE, MEANS FOR IMPARTING ROTATION TO SAID APPLICATOR ROLL AND WIPING ROLLS IN A DIRECTION WHEREIN THE WIRE ENGAGING PORTIONS OF SAID ROLLS ROTATE IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE WIRE, A PAIR OF DOCTOR BLADES EACH OPERATIVEL Y ASSOCIATED WITH A DIFFERENT ONE OF SAID WIPING ROLLS, THE PLANE OF EACH OF SAID DOCTOR BLADES BEING SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENT TO ITS RESPECTIVE WIPING ROLL, EACH OF SAID DOCTOR BLADES HAVING AN OPERATIVE SIDE ADJACENT ONE DIGE THEREOF ENGAGING IT RESPECTIVE WIPING ROLL AT THE LINE OF TANGENTIAL CONTACT BETWEEN THE PLANE OF THE BLADE AND THE CYLINDRICAL SURFACE OF ITS RESPECTIE WIPING ROLLS, PIVOT MEANS MOUNTING SAID DOCTOR BLADES FOR SWINGING MOVEMENTS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM TANGENTIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE WIPING ROLLS, SAID DOCTOR BLADES BEING MOUNTED ON SAID PIVOT MEANS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF SAID EDGES THEREOF IN THE DIRECTION OF THE PLANE OF SAID BLADES TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID LINE OF TANGENTIAL CONTACT. 